Comics: Jim Lee Talks DC - Everything Old is DC New Again

Why he accepted the DC Co-Publishing post, and the unique challenges of updating characters

DC Comics’ “New 52” initiative officially
began with the celebratory release of Justice
League #1 at the stroke of midnight last night. Which mean it’s a perfect
time to spotlight Jim Lee, both Co-Publisher of DC Comics and the artist on
this new iteration of that venerable title.

That book is the second of only two DC Comics
titles being published this week. The other is the concluding chapter of the
epic Flashpoint mini-series, an issue
which coincidently acts as a an endpoint for the continuity of the previous DC
Universe even as it heralds the birth of the New 52 status quo, as first
evidenced in JL #1.

Lee, who also is perhaps the single most
popular artist working in mainstream superhero comics today, was the subject of
a recent book. In preparation to write it, Jim and the author spoke at some
length last year.

You
recently accepted a new position as Co-Publisher of DC Comics. Why accept that
new position, what do you hope to achieve, and what challenges does it present
to you?

Well, I think it’s one of those offers
you just can’t refuse, you know? When you think about the business and art
form of comics, and you think about ways that you can affect it

You could definitely do it on a personal
level, and I think I’ve tried over the decades [to do just that]. But, being a
Publisher or Co-Publisher allows you to affect the industry in meaningful ways
that you just can’t as a single artist, as a single creator. That said—and this
ties into your question about challenges—I never want to lose touch with what
got me to the dance. And that’s creating and drawing comic books.

So the approach I’m taking is sort of a
top line, global level in terms of publishing: cutting policy, working with editorial teams, all the people that comprise publishing, and trying to
re-energize, re-invent the comic book industry, from DC’s point of view, from
the top down. And then, as a creator, hopefully in the trenches doing
semi-regular work, trying to inspire and create excitement on a story-character
level from the bottom up.

So, using this two-prong approach, I
hope to keep the comic book industry fun for me personally, but also a vibrant
business and art form.

The challenge, again, is finding the
time to do both. Traditionally, in the past, it’s been difficult. I think it
makes it a lot easier having co-Publishers; I think that was part of the plan.
Also having someone like Geoff Johns by your side as Chief Creative Officer,
someone who is also very intent on doing a lot of creative work, probably doing
the same sort of two-prong approach to enact change at DC, having him as sort
of a pace car helps.

I think there’s definitely going to be a friendly
competition to make sure that we can both be in the mix, creatively, as well as
doing our “day jobs.”

I’ll tell you that the enthusiasm and
excitement for comics goes hand in hand with your day job and what you do
beyond that. I think when you’re excited about the business and the art form of
comics, it’s something that doesn’t stop when you clock out for the day.

The energy
that I have taking meetings and working with people on a top line level with DC
carries forth when I get home, and on the weekends, when I’m at the drawing
table. And you [also begin to] realize that when you do a cool comic book
project, there are ways you can use that as a Co-Publisher to further your
goals, so it’s exciting.

I think there wasn’t complacency before,
but when I was running just WildStorm, I knew the parameters of my job and
goals. And they weren’t as lofty or as, frankly, ambitious as the Co-Publisher
position offers .

You’ve
done a fair number of homage covers. [An homage image mimics iconic covers of
the past] What
attracts you to doing those particular pieces?

The charm of the DC Universe, to me

I mean, I like Batman, but I wasn’t one
of these DC fans that only liked Batman and nothing else because he’s so
different from the rest of the Universe. I actually was very inclusive in my
love for the DC characters. I just love the Justice League. And I loved the
fact that they all had different colored costumes, and such very different
personalities and powers, and how a character that’s non-super powered, like
Batman, could fit into a team with characters as powerful as Aquaman, Wonder
Woman and Superman and Green Lantern—actually, all of them.

They were so very iconic, and very
god-like in their powers. It was just a lot of fun reading those stories. And a
lot of the Silver Age covers, especially, just had a real charm to them that I
wanted to essentially ruin using my contemporary style. (General laughter)

But I think the challenge is to try to
update it—as if that cover were assigned to me by an editor today, knowing how
would I draw it—and still kind of touch upon what they were trying to do with
the original cover from that era. Update it, and make it look dynamic and
immersive and visceral in many ways.

So that was both the challenge and the
allure of the project, actually.

Does
your love for variety in a team, the different colored costumes and different
kind of characters, help explain your real affection for the Legion of Super
Heroes?

That’s
definitely part of it. In comparison to the Marvel Universe, and the original
X-Men, they all had that same blue and yellow or black and yellow look. And
then you look at even the Fantastic Four, who were all in blue. The Avengers, sure,
they had different colors. But to me, the DC Universe was almost like the
primary color wheel, you know?

Every character was distinctly one
color, so when you look at it as a single image of a cover or an interior
splash shot, you got this intense rainbow hue, and the characters just jumped
off the page. The DC Universe has always been lighter and brighter and, in that
way, stylistically more dynamic than the Marvel characters.

So it’s
something that I always think about and try to tap into when I’m doing DC art.

A veteran journalist who has covered the comics medium since 1998, Bill Baker is also the author of Icons: The DC Comics and WildStorm Art of Jim Lee and seven previous books featuring his extended interviews with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and other notable creators. You can learn more about Bill’s work…